Although Max Verstappen leads Lando Norris by 79 points and is still the favorite to win the Formula One drivers’ championship, Lewis Hamilton isn’t discounting his fellow Briton.
Lewis Hamilton is supporting his fellow British driver Lando Norris to challenge Max Verstappen all the way for the championship this year.
Despite being 79 points behind the Dutchman, Norris is currently second in the championship. The 24-year-old only gained the lead because he had the superior tire strategy, so if McLaren hadn’t told him to let Oscar Piastri win in Budapest last weekend, the difference would have been smaller.
Hamilton, a seven-time champion, believes that Norris can catch up to Verstappen despite losing those seven points. “It’s not impossible, but it is a very high, huge challenge and task – but absolutely not impossible,” the 39-year-old stated.
“They currently have one car that’s really up there doing the point-scoring, and they have two very strong drivers that they can compete against in the end.” Thus, they undoubtedly have something there with which to work.”
Hamilton continued, however, stating that Verstappen would not have been as eager to follow team directions and that Norris cannot afford to give up any more points if he hopes to win the championship. “If that was Max, he wouldn’t have allowed him to pass,” he said.
At Spa, Norris stated that even in the event that he need special treatment for a championship charge, he does not anticipate receiving it from his staff. But McLaren will. Decide whether to make the British person the top ranker for the remainder of the year at the intermission.
According to Piastri, it is “very early” for the group to begin offering special treatment. However, he continued, saying, “I will help if Lando was in a position to win the championship and they asked me to.”
“I believe the choices we made in Budapest demonstrated that, in the team’s opinion, maintaining a strong relationship, continuing to build the team, and ultimately earning as many points for the constructors’ as possible are important.” he continued. With so many points still up for grabs halfway through the season, I believe it’s still far too early for that for me as well.”
Zak Brown, the CEO of McLaren, has said that Andrea Stella, the team principal, will ultimately decide whether or not Norris’s championship campaign takes precedence. The American stated: “In the end, Andrea will make that decision. Our goal is to finish the first half of the season and find out this weekend’s outcome.
“The constructors’ championship is undoubtedly attainable, even though it won’t be simple. The difficulty for the drivers, in my opinion, is that Max’s poor runs result in second and third place. As a result, it’s difficult to make the kind of clawbacks that we’re seeing on the constructors’ side because, although Sergio Perez is currently having difficulty, we know he can turn it on at any time.”
